Ferrari has confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will stay at the squad for 2018 taking his time there to 5 years.
The deal will likely see him partner Vettel again and pretty much seals the top 3 teams line ups for next year. With Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas all likely to stay put.
It is also speculated that Vettel made is a condition that Raikkonen stay at the Scuderia if he was to also continue. Although there has been no confirmation he will sign a new deal as well.
This means that Felipe Massa has become the new key to the driver market dependent on whether he stays or not.
Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne recently called Raikkonen a ‘Laggard’ at which point the Fin seemed to turn his fortunes around.
Saying:
“I think I have been public on the Sebastian issue, if he wants to stay he is more than welcome to stay,” he said. “And in the case of Kimi, we are pretty well sure…we know he wants to stay. Hopefully, we will bring them on soon.”
